Obituary of Edward Jay Force

Edward Jay Force Beloved Husband All State Basketball Player Edward Jay Force, 73, of Caldwell, NJ, passed away on Tuesday, August 26, 2014 at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ. Visiting will be on Friday, August 29, 2014 from 4 - 7 pm at the Codey & Jones Funeral Home, 54 Roseland Avenue, Caldwell, NJ. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, August 30, 2014 at 10:15 am in St. Aloysius R.C. Church, 219 Bloomfield Avenue, Caldwell, NJ. The interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover, NJ. Jay was born in Orange, NJ and raised in West Orange, NJ, where he was an All Star Basketball Player at West Orange High School. He then received a basketball scholarship from Georgetown University, where he played for 4 years alongside Paul Tagliabue, a former NFL Commissioner, also a NJ native. After graduation he became a mentor to many of the Georgetown basketball players. He and his wife, Helen, moved to Caldwell in 1966 Mr. Force was a member of the Coast Guard Reserve for several years, where he also played basketball. After graduation he became an insurance agent with Penn Mutual in Philadelphia. He later worked for Rasmussen Associates of East Orange, NJ before forming his own firm, Benefits Group in East Orange. He was an active longtime member of Rock Spring Country Club in West Orange where he was a former board member and member of the Golf Committee. He is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Helen (McGarrity); a sister MaryLou Lauria and a brother, Ted Force; also numerous nieces and nephews.